Page 76 of Fated to the Rogue

Once our quick meeting was over, I made my way down the hallway towards the Alpha suite, to where my mate had probablyreturned. As expected, I found her looking out the window as soon as I pushed the door open. The sound made her glance at the entrance over her shoulder, and when her eyes met mine, she flashed me a small smile before turning her attention to the view once again. For some reason I couldn’t quite figure out, she had always felt drawn to the landscape.

I approached her slowly from behind, snaking my arms around her waist as I had done many times. “What’s so special about the dandelion fields?” I breathed into her ear, smiling as I noticed the hairs on the back of her neck bristle in pleasure.

“It gives me peace.” She shrugged. “How was the meeting?”

“As good as it could have gone.” I sighed, not bothering to hide my distress.

Despite all of my training, ruling over Wind Howlers had proved to be a challenge since day one. Shaking the negativity off, I swiftly turned my mate around to face me, surprising her. With my index finger, I swooped a strand of her hair away from her face to get a clear view of her perfect features. Closing my eyes, I pressed my lips gently to hers, enjoying the way her heart beat against my chest, our breathing synchronized. She was the clarity when nothing else made sense.

I smiled as I pulled away from her. “We still have a couple of hours before we dive into this madness again.”

“And how do you plan on spending them, my moonlight?” She smirked.

A gasp broke through her lips when I grasped the back of her thighs, lifting her off the ground and closer towards me. “With you, obviously,” I answered before crashing my mouth against hers one more time.

???

After two hours in paradise, I descended back into the chaos to wait for the I.N. Elder Council in front of the Elder shrine with the rest of the Elite. Despite how stressful the whole situation was, I was a lot more relaxed after having made love to my delicious Luna. She stood elegantly by my side as we watched our guests’ vehicle stop not too far from where we were, and I was surprised when a familiar female stepped out of the car.

“Cass?” I raised an eyebrow, struggling to believe my eyes.

“Nice to see you again, Zephyr. You too, Tina.” The witch waved at both me and my mate. “Sadly, I have no news about your case yet. I’m just here to check on your recent find,” she clarified, an amused smile playing on her lips.

“Since no one has ever caught a Fallen soldier, dead or alive, we believe Cassiopeia is the only one with enough…expertise to opine on the matter,” Laelius clarified.

The werewolves of the I.N. Elder Council followed soon after the woman. As they approached us, I made sure to respectfully welcome each of them. While packs were only required to have one Elder living on the territory, the national council was constituted by five Elders - the most powerful individuals of our species.

“Our time is limited,” one of the visiting Elders spoke in an intimidating voice. “Please take us to the body so we can get going.”

“Right away.” I took the lead, gesturing for the rest of the wolves to follow me.

We had been keeping the carcass in a deposit, which was the only place the large wolf could fit in. As soon as we got there, the five Elders, together with Cassiopeia, started circling the dead rogue, examining him and taking notes. After about 15 minutes, they had found everything they had been looking for and came forth to give us a report.

“We believe your initial assumption to be correct, Alpha Zephyr,” the head of the council stated emotionlessly. “Although none of these creatures had been found thus far, this specimen matches the characteristics we expected them to have.

“Yep. This rogue was definitely part of the Fallen army,” Cass concluded casually.

“How would you know that?” I had to ask.

The witch took a step forward to look into my eyes. “Do you know why they are called ‘Fallen,’ little Alpha?” She didn’t wait for my response. “It’s a metaphor hinting at their origin -the wolves who fell from the moon. Everything started almost two decades ago, with a wolf who didn’t accept his place in the hierarchy. He accused your Moon Goddess of being a cruel deity for pairing him with a weak counterpart.”

“Huh. Now where have I heard that before?” Dawn mocked, but I was too focused to give her the attention she wanted.

“Enraged, he sought help from demons to break his ties with Diana and reject her. Once he did, his original wolf died, being replaced by a stronger one, born from darkness. Legend has it the creature is as strong as two wolves combined,” Cass continued. “After finding the power he craved, he returned to his pack to kill the Alpha. He wanted to take over, but even after the fall of the leader, his followers refused to follow a beast who denied the Moon Goddess. So, he executed them all. In hopes of building his own army, he left his lands to roam the world and gather followers.”

“Wait. You said the first Fallen was the one who traded his soul for power, but it’s believed that the wolves who compose his army are more powerful than common wolves. This one certainly was.” I pointed at the creature with my head. “Why?”

“Good question, wolfy.” Cass winked at me. “As you know, the bite of a werewolf is a gift from the Goddess, allowing your species to turn humans, much like vampires can. Uponforsaking Diana, the original Fallen lost that ability. Instead, his bite became a curse; he is capable of sharing his power with the bitten, binding their souls to his in exchange. That’s why he went after rogues who had nothing else to lose.”

“It also explains why they have no scent.” The head of the council stepped forward, joining our conversation again. “A wolf’s scent is special. It allows others from their pack, as well as their fated mate, to identify them. Once they reject the Goddess, they lose their scent along with those privileges.”

“That must be how they manage to destroy entire packs and vanish without leaving a trace,” the words slipped out of my mouth as I put the pieces of this puzzle together.

“It all makes sense now…” my Gamma chimed in, a look of realization on his face. “On the night of Valentina’s Luna Ceremony, the two she-wolves who walked into our territory were covered in blood. We assumed it was their own, and most of it probably was, but…what if their blood mixed with that of a Fallen during the massacre of their pack? It would explain how none of our sentinels caught their scent.”

“Okay, but one thing still doesn’t make sense,” I spoke again. “Why would a Fallen barge into our territory alone?”

“Easy.” Zachari turned to me. “No one ever survives their attacks, which makes it easy for them to hide their tracks. They must have noticed that the two girls managed to sneak away after the battle and tracked them to our pack. There was no way they could possibly know they didn’t make it. That’s why he was desperate to get into the morgue, where the body of one of the victims is.”

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